Renewables

Trump Doesn’t Mean the End of Renewables

We may as well address the elephant in the room in this first issue produced after the election – what’s going to happen to renewable energy under President Donald Trump?

by Robert Evatt, Online Editor

We may as well address the elephant in the room in this first issue produced after the election – what’s going to happen to renewable energy under President Donald Trump?

For instance, one of Trump’s major campaign promises was to bring back coal and coal mining jobs, though whether that’s even possible could more than fill another column. He also pledged to encourage both the production and use of natural gas in his official campaign website.

Though the website is mum on the subject of renewables, he declared investment in solar to be “a disaster” during the debates and he’s frequently called large wind turbines “monstrosities” that kill birds.

Beyond what Trump has actually said, conventional wisdom from the pundits and his eagerness toward opposing President Obama’s initiatives suggests he’ll pull out of the Paris accords, trash the Clean Power Plan and end tax credits for renewables.

On the surface it would seem those in the renewables business might face dark days under the Trump administration, but it’s not time to start folding up those solar cells into coal storage bins quite yet. In fact, renewable energy is set to weather the Trump administration just fine.

To start, even reliably red states have quietly embraced renewable energy. Texas, the long-time capital of oil production, has also become the top producer of both solar and wind energy. Other conservative strongholds such as North Dakota, Arizona and Wyoming also rank high on wind and solar production, and it hasn’t sparked a political revolt.

Then there’s Kansas. In general, the state hasn’t been faring well under Governor Sam Brownback’s ambitious economic experiments, and the state has been hemorrhaging jobs.

One exception has been wind production, which continues to blossom in the state.

That strong flow of jobs and revenue is too much of an oasis to monkey around with.

While we’re on the subject of government, the solar tax credits extension managed to pass in a polarized and Republican-led Congress.

While it’s true a Trump administration might embolden Congress to change as much as they can as long as the Republicans hold two of the three branches of government, tax credits for renewables isn’t nearly as big a lightning rod to the general public as, for instance, Obamacare.

But even if the political winds of change turn into a storm against renewable, there’s always market forces. And right now, renewable energy looks like a smart investment. The cost to build and maintain wind and solar facilities continue to drop as the technology continues to improve.

A growing number of large companies are making very bold and very public investments in renewables, including Walmart, Microsoft and Google. Amazon has been a particularly strong leader in renewables, as the company has built enough solar and wind facilities to already power over 40 percent of its cloud services this year, with plans to increase that to 50 percent next year.

Don’t forget the parade of countries, most notably Canada, France and the UK, that have pledged to end power production via coal by 2030 or earlier thanks to the UN’s Paris Agreement. While natural gas remains an option, the rush from coal will create a huge opportunity for renewable projects.

Long story short, interest in renewable energy remains high, and companies dealing in wind and solar will stay busy.

And that will ensure the continued development of the technology, which could further lower prices, improve efficiencies, and build interest.

Don’t get worked up by the bluster and posturing. Even if our new political reality takes away existing incentives, the future of renewable energy will just keep getting brighter.

 

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